Don't Know Much About Mythology - Kenneth C. Davis [252]
Most of all, I am deeply indebted to the pushing, prodding, and vision of my editor, Gail Winston. Her assistant, Katherine Hill, was also instrumental in making this book possible.
I have been fortunate to work with some of the nicest people in the book business at my longtime literary agency, the David Black Agency. I am not only lucky to have such hardworking, dedicated people on my team, I feel fortunate to consider all of them my friends: Jessica Candlin, Leigh Ann Eliseo, Linda Loewenthal, Gary Morris, Susan Raihofer, Jason Sacher, Joy Tutela, and the maestro, David Black.
Over the years, a great many other people have provided moral support, laughs, and the encouragement that make the work of writing bearable, and I am indebted to all of them for their friendship: Star Gibbs, Ellen Giusto, Jim and Esther Gray, Joyce Waldon, and Linda Louise Watson. I also thank the wonderful people at one of America’s great independent bookstores, the Northshire, in Manchester Center, Vermont.
I would like to add a special note of gratitude to April Prince, who has been a friend and a great help in making these books, especially this one, in recent years.
My deepest and greatest gratitude must always go to my family. First, my mother, Evelyn Davis, who made those trips to the local public library such a significant part of my young life. Without anybody knowing it or predicting it, those regular visits to the temple-like Mount Vernon Public Library set me on the road to becoming a writer.
My children, Colin and Jenny, are my joy and inspiration, and they have had to put up with a father who was often distracted or preoccupied.
And, finally, I thank the young woman who once told a bookstore owner who was interviewing me for a job, “Hire the kid.” That same woman later told me I should be writing books, not selling them. She was so smart, I married her. Thank you, Joann. More than I can ever say.
—DORSET, VERMONT May 2005
SEARCHABLE TERMS
Note: Entries in this index, carried over verbatim from the print edition of this title, are unlikely to correspond to the pagination of any given e-book reader. However, entries in this index, and other terms, may be easily located by using the search feature of your e-book reader.
Aborigines, 394–95, 504–6
Abraham (Judeo-Christian), 123, 163–64
Abzu (Mesopotamian), 138, 145, 146
Achilles (Greek), 4, 244, 245, 342
Actaeon (Greek), 204
Adam (Judeo-Christian), 168
Adonis (Greek), 146, 206
Aeneas, 256–57
Aeneid, The, 171, 255–57
Aeschylus, 186, 199, 208, 226, 245
Aesir (Norse), 300
Aesop, 31–32, 130
African myths, 397–430
common characteristics of, 408–12
creation myths, 11, 415–18
gods, 418–27
milestones, 400–403
new world myths and, 393–96
sub-Saharan Africa and, 404–7, 413–15
Voodoo, Santeria, and, 427–30
afterlife. See also death
African beliefs, 408
Celtic beliefs, 278
Chinese beliefs, 366–67
Egyptian myths and, 90–93
Indian beliefs, 327
Agamemnon (Greek), 244, 246–47
Agni (Indian), 334
agora (Greek), 186, 187–88
agriculture
Mayan, 457–59
Mesopotamian, 123, 130–31
Aha (Egyptian), 100
Ah Puch (Mayan), 462
Ahura Mazda (Persian), 169–70
Aido-Hwedo or Aida-Wedo (African), 417, 421, 428
Airsekui (North American), 449
Akhenaten, 13, 107–11
Alexander the Great, 111, 251
allegories, myths and, 25–26, 34–37, 156–57
All Saints’ Day, 291, 469–70
alphabet, Phoenician, 165, 183, 185
Amarna Revolution, 107–8
Amaterasu (Japanese), 9, 384–85, 387–89, 390–91
Amaunet (Egyptian), 77
Amenhotep IV, 107–11
American myths, 431–501
Aztec myths, 464–74
characteristics of, 448–53
of, 440–45
myths, 475–81
Mayan myths, 453–63
milestones, 435–39
world myths and, 393–96 (see also African myths; North Amercan myths; Pacific Island myths)
suppression of, by European